Travels Through France And Italy - Tobias Smollett (diy ebook reader .TXT) 📗

To Bring Ballast, And Have A Small

Proportion Of What They Earn, For Their Own Use: The Rest Belongs

To The King. They Are Distinguished By An Iron Shackle About One

Of Their Legs. The Road From Nice To Ville Franche Is Scarce

Passable On Horseback: A Circumstance The More Extraordinary, As

Those Slaves, In The Space Of Two Or Three Months, Might Even

Make It Fit For A Carriage, And The King Would Not Be One

Farthing Out Of Pocket, For They Are Quite Idle The Greatest

Part Of The Year.

 

 

Part 7 Letter 14 ( Nice, January 20, 1764..) Pg 147

 

The Gallies Go To Sea Only In The Summer. In Tempestuous Weather,

They Could Not Live Out Of Port. Indeed, They Are Good For

Nothing But In Smooth Water During A Calm; When, By Dint Of

Rowing, They Make Good Way. The King Of Sardinia Is So Sensible

Of Their Inutility, That He Intends To Let His Gallies Rot; And,

In Lieu Of Them, Has Purchased Two Large Frigates In England, One

Of Fifty, And Another Of Thirty Guns, Which Are Now In The

Harbour Of Ville Franche. He Has Also Procured An English

Officer, One Mr. A--, Who Is Second In Command On Board Of One Of

Them, And Has The Title Of Captain Consulteur, That Is,

Instructor To The First Captain, The Marquis De M--I, Who Knows

As Little Of Seamanship As I Do Of Arabic.

 

 

 

The King, It Is Said, Intends To Have Two Or Three More Frigates,

And Then He Will Be More Than A Match For The Barbary Corsairs,

Provided Care Be Taken To Man His Fleet In A Proper Manner: But

This Will Never Be Done, Unless He Invites Foreigners Into His

Service, Officers As Well As Seamen; For His Own Dominions

Produce Neither At Present. If He Is Really Determined To Make

The Most Of The Maritime Situation Of His Dominions, As Well As

Of His Alliance With Great-Britain, He Ought To Supply His Ships

With English Mariners, And Put A British Commander At The Head Of

His Fleet. He Ought To Erect Magazines And Docks At Villa Franca;

Or If There Is Not Conveniency For Building, He May At Least Have

Pits And Wharfs For Heaving Down And Careening; And These Ought

To Be Under The Direction Of Englishmen, Who Best Understand All

The Particulars Of Marine Oeconomy. Without All Doubt, He Will

Not Be Able To Engage Foreigners, Without Giving Them Liberal

Appointments; And Their Being Engaged In His Service Will Give

Umbrage To His Own Subjects: But, When The Business Is To

Establish A Maritime Power, These Considerations Ought To Be

Sacrificed To Reasons Of Public Utility. Nothing Can Be More

Absurd And Unreasonable, Than The Murmurs Of The Piedmontese

Officers At The Preferment Of Foreigners, Who Execute Those

Things For The Advantage Of Their Country, Of Which They Know

Themselves Incapable. When Mr. P--N Was First Promoted In The

Service Of His Sardinian Majesty, He Met With Great Opposition,

And Numberless Mortifications, From The Jealousy Of The

Piedmontese Officers, And Was Obliged To Hazard His Life In Many

Rencounters With Them, Before They Would Be Quiet. Being A Man Of

Uncommon Spirit, He Never Suffered The Least Insult Or Affront To

Pass Unchastised. He Had Repeated Opportunities Of Signalizing

His Valour Against The Turks; And By Dint Of Extraordinary Merit,

And Long Services Not Only Attained The Chief Command Of The

Gallies, With The Rank Of Lieutenant-General, But Also Acquired A

Very Considerable Share Of The King's Favour, And Was Appointed

Commandant Of Nice. His Sardinian Majesty Found His Account More

Ways Than One, In Thus Promoting Mr. P--N. He Made The

Acquisition Of An Excellent Officer, Of Tried Courage And

Fidelity, By Whose Advice He Conducted His Marine Affairs. This

Gentleman Was Perfectly Well Esteemed At The Court Of London. In

Part 7 Letter 14 ( Nice, January 20, 1764..) Pg 148

The War Of 1744, He Lived In The Utmost Harmony With The British

Admirals Who Commanded Our Fleet In The Mediterranean. In

Consequence Of This Good Understanding, A Thousand Occasional

Services Were Performed By The English Ships, For The Benefit Of

His Master, Which Otherwise Could Not Have Been Done, Without A

Formal Application To Our Ministry; In Which Case, The

Opportunities Would Have Been Lost. I Know Our Admirals Had

General Orders And Instructions, To Cooperate In All Things With

His Sardinian Majesty; But I Know, Also, By Experience, How

Little These General Instructions Avail, When The Admiral Is Not

Cordially Interested In The Service. Were The King Of Sardinia At

Present Engaged With England In A New War Against France, And A

British Squadron Stationed Upon This Coast, As Formerly, He Would

Find A Great Difference In This Particular. He Should Therefore

Carefully Avoid Having At Nice A Savoyard Commandant, Utterly

Ignorant Of Sea Affairs; Unacquainted With The True Interest Of

His Master; Proud, And Arbitrary; Reserved To Strangers, From A

Prejudice Of National Jealousy; And Particularly Averse To The

English.

 

 

 

With Respect To The Antient Name Of Villa Franca, There Is A

Dispute Among Antiquarians. It Is Not At All Mentioned In The

Itinerarium Of Antoninus, Unless It Is Meant As The Port Of Nice.

But It Is More Surprising, That The Accurate Strabo, In

Describing This Coast, Mentions No Such Harbour. Some People

Imagine It Is The Portus Herculis Monaeci. But This Is

Undoubtedly What Is Now Called Monaco; The Harbour Of Which

Exactly Tallies With What Strabo Says Of The Portus Monaeci--

Neque Magnas, Neque Multas Capit Naves, It Holds But A Few

Vessels And Those Of Small Burthen. Ptolomy, Indeed, Seems To

Mention It Under The Name Of Herculis Portus, Different From The

Portus Monaeci. His Words Are These: Post Vari Ostium Ad

Ligustrium Mare, Massiliensium, Sunt Nicaea, Herculis Portus,

Trophaea Augusti, Monaeci Portus, Beyond The Mouth Of The Var

Upon The Ligurian Coast, The Marsilian Colonies Are Nice, Port

Hercules, Trophaea And Monaco. In That Case, Hercules Was

Worshipped Both Here And At Monaco, And Gave His Name To Both

Places. But On This Subject, I Shall Perhaps Speak More Fully In

Another Letter, After I Have Seen The Trophaea Augusti, Now

Called Tourbia, And The Town Of Monaco, Which Last Is About Three

Leagues From Nice. Here I Cannot Help Taking Notice Of The

Following Elegant Description From The Pharsalia, Which Seems To

Have Been Intended For This Very Harbour.

 

 

 

Finis Et Hesperiae Promoto Milite Varus,

Quaque Sub Herculeo Sacratus Numine Portus

Urget Rupe Cava Pelagus, Non Corus In Illum

Jus Habet, Aut Zephirus, Solus Sua Littora Turbat

Circius, Et Tuta Prohibet Statione Monaeci.

Part 7 Letter 14 ( Nice, January 20, 1764..) Pg 149

 

 

The Troops Advanc'd As Far

As Flows Th' Hesperian Boundary, The Var;

And Where The Mountain Scoop'd By Nature's Hands,

The Spacious Port Of Hercules, Expands;

 

 

 

Here The Tall Ships At Anchor Safe Remain

Tho' Zephyr Blows, Or Caurus Sweeps The Plain;

The Southern Blast Alone Disturbs The Bay;

And To Monaco's Safer Port Obstructs The Way.

 

 

 

The Present Town Of Villa Franca Was Built And Settled In The

Thirteenth Century, By Order Of Charles Ii. King Of The Sicilies,

And Count Of Provence, In Order To Defend The Harbour From The

Descents Of The Saracens, Who At That Time Infested The Coast.

The Inhabitants Were Removed Hither From Another Town, Situated

On The Top Of A Mountain In The Neighbourhood, Which Those

Pirates Had Destroyed. Some Ruins Of The Old Town Are Still

Extant. In Order To Secure The Harbour Still More Effectually,

Emanuel Philibert, Duke Of Savoy, Built The Fort In The Beginning

Of The Last Century, Together With The Mole Where The Gallies Are

Moored. As I Said Before, Ville Franche Is Built On The Face Of A

Barren Rock, Washed By The Sea; And There Is Not An Acre Of Plain

Ground Within A Mile Of It. In Summer, The Reflexion Of The Sun

From The Rocks Must Make It Intolerably Hot; For Even At This

Time Of The Year, I Walked Myself Into A Profuse Sweat, By Going

About A Quarter Of A Mile To See The Gallies.

 

 

 

Pray Remember Me To Our Friends At A--'S, And Believe Me To Be

Ever Yours.

 

 

Part 7 Letter 15 ( Nice, January 3, 1764.) Pg 150

Animosity Against Any Individual Of That Country. I Have Neither

Obligation To, Nor Quarrel With, Any Subject Of France; And When

I Meet With A Frenchman Worthy Of My Esteem, I Can Receive Him

Into My Friendship With As Much Cordiality, As I Could Feel For

Any Fellow-Citizen Of The Same Merit. I Even Respect The Nation,

For The Number Of Great Men It Has Produced In All Arts And

Sciences. I Respect The French Officers, In Particular, For Their

Gallantry And Valour; And Especially For That Generous Humanity

Which They Exercise Towards Their Enemies, Even Amidst The

Horrors Of War. This Liberal Spirit Is The Only Circumstance Of

Antient Chivalry, Which I Think Was Worth Preserving. It Had

Formerly Flourished In England, But Was Almost Extinguished In A

Succession Of Civil Wars, Which Are Always Productive Of Cruelty

And Rancour. It Was Henry Iv. Of France, (A Real Knight Errant)

Who Revived It In Europe. He Possessed That Greatness Of Mind,

Which Can Forgive Injuries Of The Deepest Dye: And As He Had

Also The Faculty Of Distinguishing Characters, He Found His

Account, In Favouring With His Friendship And Confidence, Some Of

Those Who Had Opposed Him In The Field With The Most Inveterate

Perseverance. I Know Not Whether He Did More Service To Mankind

In General, By Reviving The Practice Of Treating His Prisoners

With Generosity, Than He Prejudiced His Own Country By

Patronizing The Absurd And Pernicious Custom Of Duelling, And

Establishing A Punto, Founded In Diametrical Opposition To Common

Sense And Humanity.

 

 

 

I Have Often Heard It Observed, That A French Officer Is

Generally An